Bill Rancic to Run NYC Marathon

By the time Bill Rancic crosses the starting line of the New York City Marathon on November 3, the Athlete's Village on Staten Island will already be a ghost town. The entrepreneur and reality TV star will begin his five-borough journey in dead last, his sights set not on a PR, but on passing as many of the 47,000+ runners as he can. In return, Timex will donate $1 per runner to Fab-U-Wish, a charity that treats women battling breast cancer to a day of indulgences.

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For the Chicagoan, the cause hits close to home. His wife, Giuliana, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, a period of the couple's lives that played out on their show "Giuliana and Bill."

RW spoke with Rancic, shown above with New York Road Runners CEO and President Mary Wittenberg, about his training, race goals, and what running means to his family.

How is training going so far for New York?

It’s going well. I’ve got about eight weeks to go. I did a 12-mile run on Saturday with my cousin Tommy. He’s going to run the race with me. I’ll tell you, I’ve run two marathons prior. I ran one in my late 20s and one when I turned 30. Now I’m 42, and it’s a whole different ballgame.

Why did you decide to do New York specifically?

It’s the marathon that everyone talks about. They say you have to do it. It’s a world-class marathon, but there’s a twist. I’m actually starting the race dead last, and then for everyone that I pass, Timex is going to donate a dollar to my wife’s breast cancer charity, Fab-U-Wish. I’m hoping to pass 25,000 or 30,000 people. Her charity helps women who are battling breast cancer by granting them wishes. When women are going through it, they don’t often think about themselves. They’re always engrossed in the treatment and surgeries and everything.

Through Fab-U-Wish, Giuliana can say to these women, “Well, you’ve always wanted a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes,” and bam, she gives them to her. Or makeovers because often times they’re going through radical surgeries where their breasts are removed or they lose their hair because of chemo. She calls in all her celebrity stylist friends, and they make these girls forget about the battle that they are fighting for a weekend or a day or a night.

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Can you tell us a bit more about what it means to you to be running for Fab-U-Wish after Giuliana’s bout with breast cancer?

Well, she’s certainly an inspiration to me. You know, she battled the cancer and all these treatments; the least I can do is run a marathon. If I feel like I don’t want to train or if I ever get tired, I think about why I’m doing it and all the good that’s going to come from my efforts. I get up and bang out the runs, and for me, it’s great because I get lost in my runs. I did that 12-mile run on Saturday, and before I knew it, I was done. You just get lost in your thoughts, and it’s very therapeutic for me. You’re able to work a lot of things out along the way.

Do you have any strategy for starting in the back behind 47,000+ runners? It’s obviously not a typical race situation.

What I think a lot of great marathon runners do is envision crossing that finish line. Visualization is critical. But for me, I set a lot of little goals along the way to get my mind off that overwhelming goal of 26.2 miles. I know I’ve got to get to 5, and 12, and 16, and then I celebrate those little victories along the way. I say, “Alright, at this point, I’m going to give myself a little bit of the GU or I’m going to have Gatorade.”

It’s funny because I use that in business and in life. Ever since I ran my first marathon that was the strategy I used. When I have a big goal or something that seems overwhelming, I do what I did in the marathon. I break it down and chip away and chip away, never losing sight of my end goal.

I’m also competitive. I’ve always been very competitive, so this is something that I’d certainly want to make sure that I produce the best time. Amani Toomer did it two years ago, and Jennie Finch did it the year before, and I definitely looked up their times. I’m hoping I produce the best time for Timex.

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How long have you been a runner, and what kind of runner would you say you are?

I’ve been a runner a long time. When I first got into it, I started doing small triathlons in Chicago, and I just did it to get in shape. When I got out of college, I put on a few pounds like everybody does. I did it when I was in my early 20s, but I never really did any long runs. And then in my late 20s, my buddy made a bet with me that I couldn’t run the Chicago Marathon. It was about nine weeks out, and I started training and I did it. I finished it in a little over four hours, and then I did it again a few years later when my dad was battling cancer. We tried to raise some money for the Kidney Cancer Foundation.

But now I’m 42, and it’s a whole different ballgame, you know. All my buddies who are older say, “Once you turn 40, just wait.” And sure enough they were right, but I’m definitely running a lot smarter and using all the tools to my advantage. That’s the great thing about the partnership with Timex. They’ve got me hooked up with this Run Trainer 2.0 watch, which has a GPS system in it. For a guy like me, I’m always on the road. I don’t have to think about my runs. They’ve also got a trainer who is helping me. He’ll look at my times and my heart rate, and he guides me along the way. When I was younger, I just muscled through it and didn’t really work smart. Now I’m working much smarter because of the folks at Timex.

So now that you’re 42, what would you say is the biggest challenge you’ve faced with running?

Tight hamstrings. I’m 6’3” and I don’t know if it’s a myth, but they say for taller guys sometimes it’s a little bit harder because you’re not as flexible. Tight hamstrings are fierce. And I’m guilty of not allocating the time that I should to stretch. I’ll put the time in for the runs, but then I go, “I have to go here. I’ve got to go there.” Usually stretching is what gets cut out of the program, but it’s so critical. My Timex trainer is teaching me that I’ve really got to add this in because it’s going to have an impact on the way I run the race.

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Do you just squeeze in your runs when you can? You really have to devote time to marathon training.

Yeah, it’s not a joke, and this is going to be a race where there are a lot more eyes on me. I don’t want to embarrass myself, the folks at Timex or my wife’s charity because if I don’t raise any money for this, I’ll be a laughing stock.

So I’m taking it very seriously. You have to. You’ve got to just make the time and that’s something I’m doing. I run everywhere I go. You wake up, and you do it, and you make the time.

I bring my son, Duke, with me on a lot of the runs. I have this great jogging stroller, and he loves it. It’s a great time for the two of us. We’ll crank out a run, and he has the time of his life. We do it in Chicago along the Lakefront or when we are in L.A., we’ll go on the beachfront there in Santa Monica. We’ll run south down to Venice and then back, and he just takes it all in.

You’re lucky that he enjoys it. I feel like some kids might not, but if he likes it, that’s awesome.

Aww, the kid loves it. He loves the wind and the people. He’s a people watcher, the little guy. Yeah, he loves being out there.

Do you run with Giuliana?

I do. When I first asked her out, I pulled her aside and I worked up enough courage and I said, “Giuliana.” She kind of looked back at me smiling, and I said, “Would you like to go running sometime?” She later told me that in her mind she thought, “Dear God. A morning run in spandex, sweating?” Not her idea of a first date, so how about dinner? And then we wound up going on a lot of runs.

On our runs we planned our whole life. Probably three or four weeks into our dating, we’d go on these runs and we’d talk about our goals, what we want out of life, and where we would see ourselves in five years. We would have the most incredible runs and the most incredible conversations during those runs that it’s been a part of our life since the day we met. We definitely love running together. We’ve been married six years, and it’s been a part of our life ever since.

Out of all the places where you’ve run, where would you say is your favorite?

I love running in Italy. We’ve gone to Italy a lot, and I always run in Tuscany. We go in August, and there are these sunflower fields and hills and vineyards, and it’s hot as hell, but I love it. I can run forever. You’re drenched, but you know that you’re going to have great pasta afterwards, so it gives you a little bit more incentive to run.

I’ve been pretty lucky because my job brings me to a lot of different parts of the world, and I get to run through those towns. But I’ve got to tell you, I’m really looking forward to running in New York because what a better way to see the city and all the boroughs and people that come out. New York is so supportive of the marathon, especially since last year with, sadly, the hurricane that came through. I think this year is going to be extra special.

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